The Last Guardian: Lost Boy
by TeacupPig6
Summary: After the boy lets Trico fly away to live, the boy is overcome by sadness and sets out to find Trico
1. Chapter 1

Trico left me.

Spears were being thrown into his back, and he was just taking it. He didn't even defend himself.

And I let him go.

I had no choice. It was either dying or leaving. No one would listen to me, no one thought I was sane. They thought I had been eaten by Trico and left to die. But Trico would never do that. He loved me, and I loved him. Nothing could have ever separated us.

Except my village.

The moon flung its light onto Trico. His mangled feathers, his scarred eye. His desperate expression. My people were throwing spears at him. I didn't know what to do; I was sick, exhausted, hurt, and sad. The weight of everything pushed down on me until I was unconscious.

I wake up. The warmth of Trico's feathers cover me, until I realize that it's just a woolen cover. I close my eyes and try to imagine soaring with Trico, but the memories don't stay. They drift off as the sun reaches my eyes, leaving me seeing red behind my eyelids.

I open my eyes and look at everyone around me. Everyone is still sleeping in their cots. I sit up and rub my marked arms. The morning air is chilly. I put my tunic on, and I go outside into the dewy grass. I slowly amble to the bare spot in the grass. Where Trico flew away.

Feathers on the ground twitch with the gentle breeze. I pick the biggest one up. The vane feels soft in my hand. I sit on the ground, cross-legged. The wind picks up, and the other feathers blow away.

Something glimmers in the corner of my eye. My shield. I quickly crawl over to it. I pick it up and aim it at the ground. Even though the light shines, no lightning comes to strike.

I sit back down in the dirt. A few men and women are walking around, tending to their chores. I see one of the men who hurt Trico. It takes all of my energy to not attack him.

The morning sun climbs higher in the sky as more of my fellow friends wake and exit out of the orphanage. One of them, a girl, looks at me for a few moments and then continues on with her business. What was her expression? Could it be pity?

"Hey, Altair, are you okay?"

I turn around. My friend, Ilan, bends down to look at me.

I answer him with a grunt.

"What happened?" He sits on the ground next to me. "All I remember was a giant dog taking you."

I stay silent. I don't want to relive my memories. Not now.

"Please?"

"No." I get up and walk away from the patch of dirt and walk away from him.

I hear him get up and walk toward the orphanage for breakfast. With the feather dragging on the ground and my shield on my back, I go to the orphanage, although I have no appetite.

The chatter of children is loud inside. I sit down on a mat in the corner, farthest away from everyone. Of course, Ilan comes by and hands me a bowl of porridge. I reluctantly take it.

"Where did you get the shield?" He asks.

"I found it in a tomb." I take a bite of the porridge.

"Is that the monster's feather?"

"He's not a monster. His name is Trico." I pout.

"He ate you, though."

"To save me. He was in a fight with other Tricos and he got hurt, and he wasn't strong enough to carry me."

"Woah, how many Tricos are there?"

"A lot." I eat some more porridge.

"Why-"

I interrupt him, almost in tears. "Stop asking me questions."

Ilan gets up and moves to another mat.

I get up as well, and give my bowl of porridge to our caretaker and walk back outside.

I run to the outskirts of our village. The grassland is scarcely filled with trees. Out there, leagues away is Trico. Maybe, I could go out there and find him.


	2. Chapter 2

After an hour or so after everyone went to bed, I sit up in my cot. I look around to check that everyone is sleeping. I grab my bag that I had put together earlier and sling it over my shoulder.

In it's contents were: the feather, hardened bread, smoked rabbit, a blanket, and a canteen. My shield is also on my back.

I quietly slink out of the orphanage and exit into the clearing. I walk out to the outskirts of the village.

Suddenly, a noise ruffles behind me. I turn around, and behind me is the Ilan.

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

"What are you doing?" He snaps back.

"I asked you first!"

"Following you. Where are you going?"

"To find Trico."

"Is that how you got your marks?" His curiosity overtakes him.

"Stop. Asking me. Questions!" I yell. "Go back to the village."

"No." Ilan stays. "I'm going with you." He catches up to me.

"Fine." I grumble.

We walk for hours. As a child of nine, we eventually set up camp, not patient enough to wait until dawn.

I take out the blanket, and I plop it on the dusty ground. It's big enough for two people as a mat, but only one if I wanted a cover.

"Are you going to need a mat?" I ask.

"Sure," Ilan answers.

I spread the blanket out. I set my bag and shield down next to me as I lower myself onto the mat.

Ilan does the same, although once he fell asleep, he tossed and turned to where I was unable to sleep.

Out of selfishness, I pull that blanket out from underneath him, and I wrap myself up in it, leaving Ilan to suffer in the cold night.

The sun wakes me up in the morning, but I refuse to leave the comfort of my blanket. I open my eyes to see Ilan making a fire. Instantly, guilt bubbles up inside me.

"Why did you take the blanket?" He asks.

"You were moving a lot and I couldn't sleep when you did that." I reason with him. "You're the one who wanted to come along."

He doesn't say anything as I take some rabbit out of my bag. I give half of the piece to him. "Breakfast."

I slowly tear at it. Neither of us can think of anything to say for a while. The fire crackles, and a bird chirps in a nearby tree.

After I eat, I stuff my blanket back in my bag, careful not to ruin the feather. I get up and grab onto my shield.

"How do you make the shield work?" Ilan asks.

"I just put it in my hand and think about it shining, and it works." I explain.

"Can I try?"

I hand the shield over to him in response.

He puts it in his right hand and squeezes the handle. I can see in his expression that he is thinking about it. Nothing happens.

"Aw," He hands the shield back to me, and I put it on my back.

"Come on, let's go." I start walking towards the mountain. Ilan comes with me, but he stays behind me.

We walk hours and hours. We walk until the sun is at its peak in the sky.

"Are you hungry?" I take a piece of rabbit out of my bag and wave it in front of his face.

"Yes." He takes it a stuffs it in his mouth..

I do so as well.

Between bites, Ilan asks "Why did Trico take you away?"

I finally answer him, only because I knew he was never going to stop asking. "I think he was going to turn me into a warrior, but he got hurt, and spit me out. That's where I got the markings." I look down at them. They haven't faded since the day I got them.

"They glow while you use your shield." Ilan remarks.

I nod. I have forgotten that my tattoos did that.

"How did you get out of the mountain?"

"We had to go through a lot of ruins. Trico couldn't fly then, so I had to get on his back to let him jump. But sometimes he didn't want to.*" I laugh. Even though it was annoying at the time, it was worth it to bond with him. I would do anything to relive those moments. "One time, another trico knocked us down from a tall building. Some vines caught on my tunic, but Trico landed on the hard floor way below me."

"Wow!" Ilan bears an expression of awe.

Even though I have a lot more stories to tell him, I don't explain anymore. A melancholic feeling overwhelms me we journey on.

I reach for the shield on my back and bring it to my front. I study it. Waves of light trickle through the designs. I aim it up at the sky, and the blue beam travels infinitely into the sky, through the clouds.

We set up camp when the sky turns navy.

"Can you make the fire?" I ask Ilan.

"I thought you were going to have a blanket to sleep in?" Ilan pouts.

I sigh. "No, we'll share the mat. Just make the fire."

As he gathers twigs from some dead trees near us, I roll out the blanket on the ground. I sling off my bag on the ground and take out the feather. I pet the shafts; the comforting familiarity calms me. We _will_ find Trico.

I take out a piece of bread and eat it as I wait for Ilan to finish. "What's taking so long?" I ask him.

"It took me this long to do it last night." He mopes.

"Sorry…" I mumble, not really wanting to be heard.

Ilan finally gets the fire going just in time; the sun had set, and the sky was almost black.

I fall into a deep enough sleep to ignore Ilan's movements during the night.

The wind flows around me, and Trico's gray feathers are warm. I lean up against his neck as the beat of his wings merge into a constant tempo. His ears swivel as birds chirp, and he howls in delight. He swoops down and lands. The stone floor has a sparkle to it. A barrel glistens in the corner. I jump of Trico's back to get it. I give it to him as his dinner, and I climb back on him to gaze at the shifting sky.

 ***Those controls, am I right?**


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, before the sun rises, I get up. The sky is navy again, and the fire is barely going. I cover Ilan with the mat, and I walk over to a dead tree and pull some twigs from it. I then walk back to the fire and set the twigs down in strategic spots. As soon as they catch, I pull some rabbit from my bag and toast it over the fire. The musky smell trails around the fire.

When Ilan wakes up, I have some warm smoked rabbit ready for him. The sky surrounding the sun is now pink, and the air is slightly warmer. Since I have already eaten, I pack my bag, don my shield, and put out the fire. Ilan finishes and we start walking.

"How much further?" Ilan complains.

"I don't know. Maybe two or three more days?"

The fourth day. We have run out of food, and our water is low.

"I'm so hungry!" Ilan protests.

"Me too …" I agree.

In the distance, something glimmers. Something blue. "Did you see that?" I ask.

"See what?"

"Something is over there." I point ahead of us.

As we draw near, I can make out … A helmet? From a suit of armor. Near it, a chest plate is half-buried in the dirt. I pick up the helmet. It feels familiar in my hand. Memories of pulling the helmet off of suits of armor fill my head. Ancient glyphs fill my vision as the last of the magic wears off from the unmoving object.

I shake my head to make my vision clear. Curiousness gets the better of me as I put on the helmet. I was never able to do this with Trico; he would have attacked me.

"What is that?" Ilan asks.

"It's a helmet from these suits of armor I had to fight. Well, Trico did most of the fighting. I pulled some of their helmets off, though." I answer.

The helmet hinders my vision. I have no more peripheral. I can only see what's in front of me. I can barely move as I hold the heavy armor up with my head. I take it off and drop it in the grass. I'm not impressed.

"Wow! Can I try it?" Ilan asks.

I pick up the heavy helm and hand it to him.

"Woah!" He puts it on as well. "This is so awesome!" His voice echoes from inside. "How did this get here?"

Ilans annoying questions finally had a point. How did it get here? "I don't know. But I think we're close to the mountain."

After a few more hours of walking, the mountain appears. Ilan is still hulking that helmet around, thinking we might need it.

I told him it will scare Trico away, but he didn't listen.

The mountain continues to get closer and closer, but night falls before we arrive. As always, Ilan makes the fire and we eat. Then we fall asleep.

 **A/N: I'm going to make the chapter updates more regular. Every Monday, I'll post a new one, unless it's a holiday; then I'll post it the day before or after. School also might get in the way. If it does get in the way a lot, I'll probably start posting it on the weekend regularly.**

 **Sorry for the short chapter!**


	4. 4

The sun is above the horizon when I wake up. I shake Ilan to get him out of his sleep, and I tend to the fire. I take probably my last gulp of water and hand the canteen to Ilan. My stomach rumbles with hunger. I need food.

"Altair, that was the last of the water …" Ilan informs.

I sigh. "Okay." How are we going to make it back to the village?

I pack my bag, yet again, and Ilan puts on his helmet. "Take that off," I tell him.

"But I like it!"

"I told you, you're going to scare Trico, and it will make us take longer to get to the mountain."

"Fine." He drops the helmet into the grass.

Then, we start walking forwards. The day drags on and on. It is chilly and cloudy; it may rain. We have thought about hunting, but there aren't any animals around except a few birds, which would be hard to catch. The savanna spreads out for leagues.

But finally.

The mountain's wall is tiny on the horizon. It is brown, but that is all I can see from here. Many leagues from here stands Trico. My best friend.

The mountain is now close. Healthy green trees dot the few ledges, and clouds brush the top of it.

"This is the mountain?" Ilan asks. He hasn't talked in awhile. Energy has depleted in both of us.

"Yes." I answer.

"Where are the ruins?

"Oh, the mountain kind of sinks in the inside. The ruins are there." I explain as I picture the gray ruins adorned with wild vines.

"How are we going to get inside?"

I hadn't thought of that before now. "I don't know."

Ilan offers a solution "We could climb up the side?"

"No, we could fall off." I start thinking harder. Something in my head is telling me that the answer is Trico. But Trico can't help us. He doesn't know we're out here.

But I could call him.

"Start calling for Trico. He might hear us." I start yelling for him. "Trico! Trico!"

We call for a long time, but nothing happens. Not a roar or whine or feather.

Clank! My shield drops on the ground. I pick it up as an idea comes through my head. How far can Trico's tail respond to shooting lighting? I shine it up at the top of the mountain.

Red lightning shoots the top edge of the mountain. Trico! He's here! He's - roar!

Trico knows I'm here! He's coming! Giddiness overwhelms me as I run to the base of the mountain. I look up and see Trico looking down at me. He bellows again and glides down to me, his gray feathers ruffling in the wind. His eyes turn yellow with excitement. He picks me up by my tunic and takes off with me in his grasp.

"Wait! My friend is down there!" I yell.

Trico makes a questioning sound and lands on the nearest ledge.

I point down at Ilan, who is a tiny dot to me now.

Trico picks me up again and then dives down and grabs Ilan with his talons.

"Aaah!" Ilan screams at the top of his lungs.

Trico swerves around stone towers and archways, wood bridges, and broken glass eyes. He then dives down into a temple and then makes his way into where he used to be chained up.

Ilan has finally stopped screaming as Trico lands in the dark, damp room.

Trico sets Ilan and me down on the cold stone ground. Then a growling escapes from him. Then a snarl.

"Uh, Altair? Why is Trico mad?" Ilan gets up off the ground and hides behind me.

Why is Trico acting like this? He snarls again, but then I notice: he's not making the noise. If he's not making that noise, then…

I hastily look around in the dark room. My eyes haven't adjusted so I struggle to see what is around me. But I happen to glimpse at two pink eyes. Another growl escapes from the other trico.

Trico trots to his friend and and communicates with it using little grunts and yips.

The other trico looks wearily at me, but doesn't make a sound. My Trico comes back over to me and presses his cheek down into my hand. I pet him gently.

The other trico comes out of the shadows with armor on.

This is the trico that attacked my Trico! I slowly back away from fear.

Ilan moves back with me cautiously.

Trico sits down and makes a puzzled bay. Are they friends? More than that?

 **A/N Yes, I am sorry to say, this is another short chapter. I kinda have writer's block and I have been putting this off a lot. I am requesting a beta person, btw. I don't know how it works, tho**.


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